A 17-month search for a title sponsor for the Cotton Bowl
ended yesterday when Southwestern Bell signed a four-year, $5.2M
deal, under which the game will now officially be called the
Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl Classic, according to Jonathan
Feigen of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. The deal is expected to allow
the bowl to increase its payout to about $2.5M/team -- with a
sellout -- and "make it more competitive with other bowls
excluded from the bowl alliance." The games pits the No. 2 Big
12 team with the No. 2 Pac-10 team, or the WAC champ (HOUSTON
CHRONICLE, 9/19). The sponsorship starts with this season's game
on January 1, according to Steve Richardson of the DALLAS MORNING
NEWS. He notes Cotton Bowl officials who said Southwestern Bell
is attracted to the "regional tie-in" of the package because a
"large section" of the Big 12 area is served by the company.
Richardson also writes the Southwestern Bell deal "could be a
lifesaver" for the Cotton Bowl, which had to decrease payouts
after the loss of Mobil as title sponsor in March '95 (DALLAS
MORNING NEWS, 9/18).
